Oliver and the Snowstorm
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: Oliver's dislike of snow causes him to get stuck in a snowdrift.


Winter was settling in on the Island of Sodor. This meant the Christmas rush, which meant more work.

Most engines don't the mind the extra work; they wanted to keep on moving so they wouldn't get cold, but Oliver was not happy.

"Snow may be magical, Toad, but it's still a nuisance." he said grumpily in Arlesburgh Sheds.

"But Mr. Oliver, snow can be taken care of by snowploughs. All you do is push it aside. Besides, children have great fun building snowmen." replied the brakevan.

"Pah! The only use of snowmen is in the cinema." huffed Oliver and puffed away to shunt trucks.

"I guess he'll never understand..." thought Toad.

Later, Oliver had to take a train of ballast from the Small Railway down to Knapford Bend, where they were repairing the tracks after Gordon's accident.

He sighed as he made his way with his trucks to the shoot. Bert and Mike saw him and exchanged puzzled looks.

"What's wrong?" Bert asked kindly. Oliver looked up and scowled.

"It's the snow." Mike agreed.

"I nearly ran over this boy with a bike! He wasn't paying attention. He says it's the snow... Pah!" Rex chimed in with some tourists.

"No, it was because you weren't paying attention." he teased. Mike grew redder than his paintwork.

"Why. you little-"

"Enough!" Bert interrupted. He shunted the trucks onto the shoot, and the ballast flew through the holes to Oliver's trucks. Oliver set off, still grumbling.

"Snow... Icy rails... Nothing but trouble." he mumbled.

"Mr. Oliver, I'd advise you to be careful. The rails are icy." cautioned Toad.

Oliver realized that Toad was right, for his wheels started to slip. The driver checked, and his sandboxes were empty!

"Oh, no! Brakes!" cried Oliver, and the driver applied the brakes. The trucks felt this and smirked.

"Ready, boys?" called the front truck.

"He, he, ha! Yes, yes!" squealed the trucks. Oliver felt a bump.

"Oh no you don't... Unless you want to end up like that private owned wagon..." The trucks shut up at once, but as revenge they started to push him on.

"What's going on? If this is my fault, I don't get what I did wrong." said Toad.

The guard applied Toad's brakes; the brakes strained, but Toad's brakes were weak and broke.

"Darn. I forgot to have Toad's brakes repaired. Driver, brakes!" yelled the guard.

"I already did," called the driver, "and it's not helping!" Oliver felt a surge.

"Oh, help! I don't have time for a runaway today!" But the trucks paid no attention.

"On! On!" they shouted and they knocked the crew off the footplate.

"What the..." cried the driver.

"Oh, just great. We're stuck, we have no food, and we lost our engine. What's next?" grumbled the fireman.

Oliver was now crewless. He saw Terence plowing a field.

"Terence! Help!" Terence looked at Oliver.

"What's going on?" he wondered.

"I've lost my crew and my brakes!" yelped Oliver. Then, he gasped. "Oh, no. Not the hill! I hate roller coasters!" Oliver raced up the hill.

Then, at the top, the trucks giggled and surged forward.

"Weeee! Let's crash into something!" they screamed.

Oliver groaned in horror as he soon saw a huge snowdrift up ahead. Before he could say a word, he plowed into the drift.

"Sleepers and ballast!" spluttered Oliver. The trucks giggled.

"Well done. Once again, the trucks have established revenge."

"I-I'm c-c-cold." shivered. Toad.

"Well, I'm freezing to the frames in here." complained Oliver. At last, Oliver's crew were able to run up to the scene.

"Oh, you'll probably be stuck here for days." said the driver.

"What do you mean _me_?" spluttered Oliver.

"Well, we humans have hotels." Before Oliver could angrily reply, they saw an orange tractor.

"Look! It's Terence!" cheered Toad, "He'll get us out."

"Ah, I'd thought I would find you here. I heard your frantic whistling and saw you racing by. I figured you might need help. Now, let's get you out of there." Terence pulled away Toad and the trucks, which left the Great Western engine left.

"Hurry up before I freeze!" shivered Oliver. Bur Terence was skeptical.

"I don't know, but I'll try." His treads dug into the ground and he began to pull. "*grunt* Gosh, you're heavier than I thought."

He was out of breath after a while. "*pant* Sorry. *pant* But I can't go on. I think you're stuck. I'll try and plow around you. That might loosen your grip." As Terence did so, Oliver felt very cold without the warmth of his fire.

"Oh, who will help us now?" groaned Oliver. Suddenly, two familiar whistles sounded.

"It's Mr. Donald and Mr. Douglas!" said Toad. Sure enough, two Scottish engines could be seen in the distance; they were busy plowing the tracks on the island. .

"Och, aye! Look, Douggie. It looks like an engine!"

"It looks like yon Oliver!"

"It's us! Please, help!" cried Oliver.

"Aye, we'll lend ye a hand." said Donald. Donald and Douglas charged the drift time after time.

"We'll do it! We'll do it!" they chanted.

"You better, too." said Oliver crossly. Terence did his best too.

"I think the twins have done enough, Oliver. I think I can pull you back."

"Alright then. We'll just go ahead and watch." said Douglas.

Slowly but surely, Terence's treads dug into the snow and pulled. He slipped and tugged and slipped and tugged until at last, Oliver was free.

"Oh, thank goodness!" gasped Oliver, "I can breathe."

"I warned you about the icy rails." said Toad crossly, "so I guess this is your comeuppance." Oliver sighed.

"We better hurry and make up for lost time," said the driver. Oliver was embarrassed.

"Do you still think snow is magical, Toad?"

"Uh... Well, to be honest, after sitting through that cold, snow seems not so magical."

"Magic doesn't exist," muttered the guard. Oliver's driver lit his fire and the tank engine charged his way through the snow with his snowplough and soon made it to Knapford Bend.

But he was very late indeed.

"What happened to you?" asked a workman.

"Long story." replied the driver. The workmen exchanged puzzled looks, but said nothing.

Soon, the tracks were repaired.

"Can I get back to the shed?" grumbled Oliver.

"I guess so. But Duck might've heard about this by now." replied the driver. Oliver's boiler quivered; not because of the cold, but because of what he knew what happen when he got back to the shed.


End file.
